House Does Not Vote on Hurricane Sandy Bill, Upsetting States Hit Hard by the Storm

Jan 02, 2013 11:45 AM EST

Christmas ornaments amongst the remains of homes destroyed by fire during Hurricane Sandy in the Breezy Point area of New York's borough of Queens(Photo : Reuters)

The House of Representatives closed the voting for session without voting on a bill that would grant financial aid to the states that were debilitated by the storm.

According to reports, the house commenced the congressional session to the surprise of many Republicans and Democrats; the $60 billion Sandy bill will likely be up for vote in the 113th congressional session on Thursday as reported by NBC News.

Democratic Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland announced, "I have just been informed that we will be having perhaps no further votes in this Congress," he said, "I am deeply disappointed at that information. We have millions of our fellow citizens who have been badly damaged by a storm called Sandy," as reported by NBC.

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The 113th session will commence only after the newly elected congress members are sworn in office. Unfortunately, since pending legislative bills do not roll over, the new congress will have to start fresh with the Sandy bill.

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Many members from both parties expressed disappointment over the decision.

New York Republican representative, Michael Grimm told NBC reporters, "I feel it is a personal betrayal...But I think more importantly, when you parse out all the politics, the people of this country that have been devastated are looking at this as a betrayal by the Congress and by the nation, and that is just untenable and unforgivable."

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Spokesman of House Speaker, Boehner said "The Speaker is committed to getting this bill passed this month," as reported by NBC News.

Hurricane Sandy has devastated many regions on the East Coast such as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut et al. The storm has been called the greatest storm on the East Coast causing power black outs in many areas, destroying homes and lives as well as completely debilitated transit systems.

The storm hit in late October. In New York alone Frankinstorm claimed the lives of 38, debilitating the MTA transit system, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and costing the city billions of dollars in repair